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Jim Dowry
James Bartholomew "Jim" '''or "Black Bart" Dowry '''is a character portrayed by ZeMeeM. He is the younger of the Dowry Brothers, and one with one of the longest service records in the community, serving from 1918 to 1963 as a military aviator. Early Life Jim Dowry was born to Irish-born adventurer Jack Dowry on January 1, 1900 in Obetz, Ohio, then a small and fledgling village made mainly of German immigrants. His father, Margaret Casey, was born to Irish immigrants in Obetz and met Jack in 1890. The two settled down in Obetz and farmed the nearby land; Jim and his elder brother, Sam, helped work the farm. From his birth he strived to remain a farmer and keep a relatively peaceful and calm life in Obetz. He attended most of his schooling in Obetz until his family moved to Columbus in 1914. From there on out he spent his High School years in Columbus, keeping his grades up. During his youth he became obsessed with exploration, and originally had dreams of travelling the entire known world and writing about it along the way. Early WWI Almost immediately after the First World War broke out, his older and more troublesome brother, Sam, ran away from home and traveled as a stowaway on a cargo ship to France, where he then enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. At the time, none of the Dowry family or Columbus locals knew about this, and Jim went into a state of depression. While at it, he abandoned his dreams of world exploration and his grades began to sink. Nonetheless he showed understanding of what he was learning at home, and became interested in flight after hearing about the exploits of the early pilots of WWI. He stepped up his work in school and became an honor roll student, and one of his school's best in mathematics (although he personally despised the subject and regarded it as something he only took to benefit his life in the future.) His life was relatively tedious, Jim having to cope with depression, a lack of friends and the following social isolation. Military Service: 1917-1921 Dowry enlisted in the army on May 11, 1917, upon hearing rumors that he was to be drafted and sent to France with the regular army. He enlisted early to be able to chose his service path; he was placed in the Air Service upon arrival in France two weeks later and sent to the Tours aerodrome. He graduated in January of 1918, and was assigned to a pursuit squadron operating 24 km (15 miles) south of Champagne, Champagne, France. During his service with his unit, he was the only aviator to survive the war and came out with it at 6 kills, making a very modest ace status. His service saw a near-death experience on one of his first missions. He was shot down twice, first near Les Istres-et-Bury and secondly a forced landing at the chateau in Saint-Quentin-Sur-Cole. He was then captured and held at the estate, where he befriended Ernst Kettler, a Sudeten German-born aviator who treated him with dignity and respect during his time in captivity. After a brief skirmish at the estate in which it was overrun by soldiers of the 3rd US Infantry Division, he was freed. Kettler was captured and sent to a military prison in Bordeaux, where he spent the remainder of the war. Dowry remained in service 'till war's end. In 1919 his unit was disbanded and Dowry returned to the United States. He then began a career as a military flight instructor, often voicing support for President Harding's ventures in aviation. After three years of service in the air reserve, he transferred to the air reserve, where he could remain in service but retain a civilian life. Brief civilian life Dowry originally spent 3 years as a shop keep in Golden Meadow, Louisiana, where he attempted to start a new life as a fisherman. He was successful while at this and made friends with many of the community locals. At one point the community begged him to run for mayor but Dowry declined the offer and continued as a fisherman. After becoming bored with his life in Louisiana and receiving community encouragement, he took out his savings from a local bank and proceeded to revive his childhood dream of exploration. For 8 years he traveled on foot through the states and in Latin America. He briefly lived in Peru and finished his novel there. He returned by boat to the US via Colombia and moved back to Golden Meadow. He then continued as a fisherman and began campaigning with popular support for mayor of the town; however, he abandoned his dream after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression. He returned to active duty service in the Army Air Corps after losing his belongings and money in the Depression. Interwar Service: 1929-1940 Dowry became involved in the Air Corps' investment in long-range heavy bombers upon reenlistment. He was promoted from Master Sergeant to Second Lieutenant. Dowry initially worked helping test fly early bombers for Boeing and helping deliver them to the military during Boeing's age of dominance over air production. In 1937 he became a First Lieutenant and went back to his job of flight instructor for two years. In 1939, as the Second World War broke out, Dowry was sent abroad by the Government to observe foreign air forces. His trip started in England, where he then traveled to Italy and Germany under an alias before making a third alias and travelling to the Soviet Union. Dowry returned to the United States with detailed observations in 1940 under his real name and began flying B-17s as part of a reserve bomb group based in Georgia. 444th Bomb Group: The Second World War In 1942 upon arrival in England with the reserve bomb group and a nucleus of army officers, Dowry was promoted to Captain and put in command of a B-17E by the name of ''Moonlight Serenade, ''which he commanded throughout the war. The Moonlight Serenade name continued as the group received more advanced B-17 variants. Along the way he met with Theodore Reagan, Kentucky Nichols, Egil Steensen, Harold McPherson, Andrew Henry and an assortment of other servicemen. Dowry and his crew became renowned for their valor in often suicidal missions to Germany in 1942-43, and retained a clean record, only being shot down a few times. The bomb group operated out of England and at the time Dowry, Nichols, and Reagan were the four most well known members of the crew and usually the only to survive missions on Moonlight Serenade. On April 16, 1944, the crew embarked on an enormous bomb mission to southern Austria where a series of Luft Stalag prison camps were bombed and destroyed. The mission resulted in the freeing of 75% of prisoners along the Austrian-Swiss border, and thousands of others in Austria, albeit at heavy casualties for the 444th BG. Not one bomber was undamaged, and 1/5th of bombers either had to be scrapped on landing, were shot down or crashed in the process of the mission, including the commander. Dowry took momentary command and diverted the 444th BG to an airfield outside Gela, Sicily. Many of the prisoners escaped to Switzerland where the OSS flew them out via civilian airliner to Gibraltar. 7 of the 10 crew members were killed in the mission, with Dowry, Nichols and Reagan being the only survivors. Moonlight Serenade was also heavily damaged. For their actions, Dowry was promoted to Major. Moonlight Serenade's survivors all received the Legion of Merit and 1 Month R&R as the bomb group rested, recovered and replaced its casualties. Afterwards Steensen, McPherson and Henry joined the crew. They flew a string of dangerous missions to Hungary, northern Italy, Austria, southern France and Romania. The crew was shot down over Yugoslavia in late May and then rescued by local Partisans before returning to Italy. The group then conducted a series of raids on industry in Austria and Italy before Operation Dragoon, after which they were rebased to southern France where they assisted the allied advance by bombing Axis strongholds in France. They rebased numerous times as the Allied invasion of France progressed, and starting after the liberation began bombing Germany until the surrender on May 8. After May 8, Dowry was promoted to Colonel and assigned desk work as the group rebased to Southern China. They received B-29 bombers and assisted with the Chinese advance into Japanese territory until finally rebasing to Okinawa in early July. They subsequently carried out firebombing missions until war's end in April. Dowry continued to lead the group during the occupation of Japan, even after it shrank drastically in size as many of the members returned home from the war. Air Force up until Korea Dowry held a large amount of command of the remnants of the 444th BG during its time in the occupation. Dowry became a Colonel and helped reorganize the group in 1947 as a training unit from 1947-1950 as part of the Air Force and the newly desegregated military. They remained equipped with B-29s. Dowry refused to return home as the jet age began, declaring that he "must lead the group and assist the Air Force during a time of drastic change in doctrine." Dowry held full control of the group and helped it grow during the new age. Korea Upon outbreak of Korea Dowry was made a General and put in command of the group. He expanded it and led it through numerous carpet bombing campaigns against North Korea and commanded a few other smaller bomb groups which mainly carpet bombed DPRK airfields and PRC army bases. They also crippled supply lines, fought MiGs and delivered food and aid to US troops on the ground. Korea saw Dowry's power go unchecked, leading to a subsequent series of stirring doctrine reforms and changes to the group that ultimately benefited the war effort. The 444th was disbanded in 1955 and was subsequently never reeactivated. Until retirement Dowry led a secret testing unit for experimental third-generation aircraft, including the F4 Phantom II, F-104 Thunderchief and numerous other missile-equipped aircraft. Dowry remained a general and in active service until 1963, when he was forced to retire due to age limits. He retired with a long and decorated service record. Dowry was accomplished and satisfied with retirement. Retirement After retirement, Dowry moved back home to Obetz and invested in the town. He remained in a retirement home until his death on June 27, 1987 in a cabin at Hocking Hills, Ohio. He was 87 years old and had previously held the rank of General, made 6 combat kills in fighter service, flown in 4 of the 5 continents (all except Africa) served for 45 years under 3 aviation branches of the same military and numerous medals and decorations. He had no living heirs to carry on the Dowry name.